In the early months of the United States’ involvement in World War II, the American and Filipino troops left in the Philippines surrendered April 9 — 72 years to the day before Wednesday’s event — after a long fight with invading Japanese forces. What followed was a brutal 80 mile march to prisoner-of-war camps which killed up to 650 Americans and 80,000 Filipinos.

Wednesday’s ceremony will feature a military honor guard and a “Filipino cultural display.”

It will be held at the Kuntao Club at Franklin Commons in Phoenixville. Scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m., the ceremony is expected to last approximately an hour.